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CONSULTATION WITH THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG
15.
From the beginning of the negotiations the Government have been conscious that the negotiations concerned the interests and future of the five and a half million people of Hong Kong. It has been the Government's consistent position that any agreement with the Chinese Government on the future of the territory should be acceptable to the people of Hong Kong as well as to the British Parliament Chinese Government.
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16. The negotiations had to be conducted on a basis of confidentiality. This was crucial to their success,
success, but the maintenance of confidentiality also caused much concern and anxiety among the people of Hong Kong who were understandably anxious to know what was being negotiated for their future. The Official and Unofficial members of the Executive Council, as the Governor's closest advisers, were kept fully informed on the negotiations and consulted on a continuing basis throughout the period. The Unofficial members of the Executive and Legislative Councils (UMELCO) provided invaluable advice to the Governor and to Ministers on the course of the negotiations and on the attitude of the people of Hong Kong.
17. At a number of crucial points in the negotiations the Unofficial members of the Executive Council visited London for consultations with the Prime Minister and other Ministers. British Ministers also paid a series of visits to Hong Kong, to consult the Executive Council and the Unofficial members of the Executive and Legislative Councils and to keep in touch with opinion in the territory. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs was able to describe the approach of the British Government to the negotiations in his statement in Hong Kong on 20 April 1984, and to fill in more details of the content of the further statement in the territory on 1 August 1984. In the course of the negotiations, and in particular since the statement of 20 April, numerous individuals and groups in Hong Kong have made specific proposals on what should be included in an eventual agreement. The Government has paid close attention to these proposals which the Hong Kong Government has relayed to Ministers
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